APCO Adds Leadership In China Offices

BEIJING—Linda Du, former general manager for financial communications and corporate advisory at MSL China, and Jane Zhang (pictured), former practice leader of government affairs, issues and crisis for Greater China at Burson-Marsteller, have joined APCO Worldwide as managing directors of its Shanghai and Beijing offices respectively.

They join a team led by James McGregor, author of landmark China books and former Dow Jones China CEO, who was appointed chairman of APCO’s greater China region earlier this year.

Du has more than a decade of experience in internal, business-to-business, consumer, crisis, financial communication, online and social media. LShe was previously the senior manager of international public relations at Yahoo!, where she developed corporate communications programs, led global product announcements and provided strategic media relations counsel for the company’s M&A and other business activities. Linda rejoins APCO where she worked from 1998 to 2002.

As a career diplomat for China, Zhang provided international affairs expertise to top Chinese leaders and central government agencies and worked with a wide range of senior US and European officials on major international issues. She played an important role in managing Chinese government communications for Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997. Before joining APCO, Jane built a Greater China practice specializing in government relations and crisis management at Burson-Marsteller and prior to that, served policy, strategy and business development roles at Pfizer.